1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a mechanical acoustic energy control system for a room in which a listener is seated in front of one or more audio speakers or live performers. A set of compact acoustic resonators are strategically located around the room to redirect the acoustic energy generated by the speakers or live performers to control the dispersion pattern of acoustic waves in the room so that the listener is surrounded by a richer, fuller and more natural sound.
2. Background Art
A listener may often find himself seated in a family room or an auditorium while listening to music or other audio content being emitted from one or more speakers or performers. In many cases, the speakers or performers are located against a wall, such that the sound transmitted to the listener is uni-directional. That is to say, the user will not feel as if he is surrounded by sound coming to him from all directions. Moreover, the configuration of the room could negatively impact the quality of the bars, mid-range and high frequencies of the sound. Therefore, it would be desirable to have innocuous (i.e., space-efficient and aesthetically-pleasing) acoustic energy control devices to be strategically placed around the room or auditorium so as to redirect the acoustic energy therewithin, whereby the listener will be surrounded by a rich, full and more natural sound that is pleasing to his ear without the use of additional speakers.
One example of a known acoustic energy generator consists of a resonator bowl that is manufactured from a precious metal. The resonator bowl rests upon a stand formed by a set of pins which project from the top of a block of wood. As the resonator bowl vibrates, sound waves are distributed within the room. However, the manufacture of such a precious metal resonator is expensive and generally impractical for use in large rooms. Moreover, a single resonator bowl in and of itself will be largely ineffective to adequately redirect the acoustic energy within the room to create a natural acoustic sound.